JUSTICE In the draft approved by the Government: pardon for the repentant, part of the sentence also served at home. Extradition also appears for the first time New Penal Code in Albania Death sentences are further restricted New developments ARMAND MERO TIRANE — Soon Albania will also have a new Penal Code. It has now been approved by the Government and, at its last meeting, the draft is also awaiting final passage by Parliament. The 1977 code is thus left behind, and new legal institutions have now been defined to respond in the field of justice as well to the changes that have taken place in the country in recent years. It also incorporates numerous amendments approved since 1990. The new Penal Code therefore defines the new legal policy of the Albanian state. There are many changes and new elements that this code brings to Albanian justice. Its drafting has been a difficult task aimed at limiting capital punishment in Albania. This code takes the first attempt made at the end of last year to reform the death penalty and life imprisonment a step further. In it, the two capital penalties were ratified together, being included in only 12 legal articles. "Having the two punishments separate only makes the penal system harsher," Arben Rakipi, a member of the drafting group for the project, told Gazeta Shqiptare. "We have thought that death should be an alternative form to life imprisonment and should be applied only in very serious cases." For the first time in Albania's Penal Code, a new institution is also provided for: extradition, which establishes "the handing over for trial or the removal of judicial persons to foreign authorities in response to the request they make to the state". The cases in which extradition is refused are also defined, when the person to be extradited is an Albanian citizen, or when the criminal offense that forms the basis of the extradition request is political or military in nature. However, a special law is needed for this, Rakipi explains, which will define the procedure for carrying out these processes. For the first time in the Albanian system, several new alternatives are also envisaged for prison sentences, such as their easing. Thus, if someone has been sentenced to 1 year, they may serve this sentence — if the court deems it necessary — by staying in prison only 2 or 3 days a week and remaining at home on the other days. Another alternative is the suspension of the sentence or of the execution of the judgment, requiring the convicted person to perform work in the public interest. Meanwhile, an important change is also foreseen regarding the age threshold for those convicted of criminal misdemeanors. It will no longer be 14 but 16 years old. The new Penal Code also envisages a number of new criminal offenses or expands those that are currently defined only by a general provision. Thus, smuggling is now dealt with in much broader terms; there are 10 separate provisions that define it, whereas previously it was limited to the goods involved in smuggling. The issue of drugs is also dealt with in much greater detail. The new Code also punishes "incitement to drug use or its influence." In this chapter, attempts to launder money earned from drugs are also criminally punished. In addition to the changes and new elements it brings, the new Penal Code is also more complete. "Our idea was to draft a code that would include all punishable offenses," Rakipi explains, "which is why we have also included here the offenses that were previously provided for in special laws." Government headquarters

The state will invest nearly four million dollars The first phase of the project is being implemented TIRANE — Work on the construction of Albania's first motorway, Tirana-Durrës, will begin in a few days. Heavy construction machinery that will carry out the first stage of the work has already been gathered at the Kamza turnoff on the outskirts of Tirana. The official inauguration of the works will take place with a simple ceremony on 9 May. Gazeta Shqiptare spoke about the details of this motorway construction project with Lekë Tushaj, the works supervisor. The first five kilometers of the motorway will begin near the Kamza turnoff and will continue along the right-hand side of the existing Tirana-Durrës road alignment. A large amount made available from the state budget will be spent on these works. Around 370 million lekë will be spent by the construction company over a period of thirteen months, which is the deadline for delivery of the works envisaged in the project. The large volume of work will be handled by the construction firm "Euroteoma", an Italian-Albanian joint venture based in Peqin. "Euroteoma" was the company that won the tender announced some time ago by the Ministry of Construction. The motorway will be built according to all internationally known standards. It will have four wide lanes, which together will reach a width of 21 meters. Like all motorways in the world, the first kilometers of the Tirana-Durrës motorway will be equipped with electric lighting during the night hours. The lighting system will be placed in the middle of the lanes. According to the calculations made by specialists, traffic on the motorway will be fully capable of handling the heavy flow of vehicles traveling daily on the Tirana-Durrës national road, one of the busiest roads in the entire country. Its width is also expected to be sufficient for traffic growth over the next 50 years. It has still not been decided which company will continue the motorway works on the remaining kilometers. According to supervisor Tushaj, if "Euroteoma" meets the technical quality requirements of the works and the other contractual conditions, it will have priority in the second tender that will be held for the company that will build the second phase of the motorway. f.bas./ Ar.Me.

TIRANE — "They are dear to the entire Albanian nation. Albanian President Berisha paid tribute here on 5 May to seven martyrs, martyrs of their families, by laying wreaths on their graves. Together with the veterans of the partisan war, the whole nation honors several families of martyrs. All Albania honored the memory of the fallen on 5 May. In all districts of the country, many residents came out to pay tribute at the graves of the martyrs. On behalf of the PD, its chairman Sali Berisha and other leaders paid homage at the Cemetery of the Nation's Martyrs as well as visiting their families. At the Palace of Congresses, the PS organized a commemorative meeting in honor of 5 May, the day of those martyred for the homeland.

IN LAC, FARMERS DO NOT PAY INTEREST ON THE LOANS THEY TOOK OUT — The branch of the Agricultural Bank in Laç has granted loans to more than 1,000 rural families within a year. But at least a large part of the interest has so far not been paid. With this money, other debts [?] are being requested by banks to be repaid. This happens — the director of the Agricultural Bank branch told the official press agency — because the borrowers consider the bank an irresponsible economic institution. ARRESTED, HOUSEHOLD FUND SEEKS LIVESTOCK. — ... moved away... It was limited, after being banned, with seven arrested by the Tepelena Police: Ago Lala, 34 years old. According to sources from this police force, the arrested man is accused of having stolen seven head of livestock from a fellow villager. The police searched the arrestee's home. During this search, the animals were found and returned, hidden in the abandoned well. IN GJIROKASTER 3,484 PRIVATIZED HOUSES — In the district of Gjirokastra, the number of houses privatized so far has reached 3,484. Throughout the district there are 8,252 registered houses. The majority of the privatized houses have been involved in judicial privatization proceedings. This has often hindered the privatization process. THE MEETING OF MINISTER XHAJA WITH NAP'S TRADE UNIONISTS — In Tirana, a meeting took place between the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Abdylyl Xhaja, and representatives of the Workers' Union. At the meeting, the unionists raised several issues concerning the difficulties faced at "Albpetrol", the minimum wage-maximum wage ratio, and some signs of corruption.

KORÇË — New reports on the mistreatment of Albanian refugees by Greek troops. Among them, it is claimed that, having returned to the border crossing point of Kapshtica — on Wednesday alone — several young people from the Devoll district testified to the brutal violence exercised on them by Greeks. One of them, Enver Spahia, received medical assistance after being taken to the hospital in Korçë. According to him, several other people from Kavaja were also brutally struck by Greek soldiers with the butts of their rifles and for no reason, causing injuries to their bodies as well. Among the others from Greece — according to testimony at the Kapshtica border point — there were also refugees with regular transit visas. (e. r.)

ELBASAN / The case is now on appeal ELBASAN — Telekomi in Elbasan is in financial difficulty. Millions of lekë not paid into Telekomi's coffers by subscribers have forced the management of this company to take the matter to court. The latter has taken the first three cases under review. In the first two months of this year alone, more than 2.5 million lekë that should have gone into our cash register[?] were billed to the subscribers of the city of Elbasan[?] — 75 Telekomit[?] — unable to stop these subscribers[?] by civil or criminal means from settling their obligations. Telekomi has had only one option left: to take them to court. So far, three such cases have been brought. But Telekomi has lost these too. The subscribers claimed that they had not used as much as the Telekomi meter showed, and so most of the cases were resolved in favor of the subscribers. Dissatisfied with the first ruling, the company appealed to the Court of Second Instance. Judge Dervishi asked the Director of Telekomi in Elbasan to present the total number of employees and the number of those employees who are known as members and subscribers. According to this ruling, the bills officer of this institution, instead of sending bills to the other ordinary subscribers, will be directly involved in this case. In the finance office of Telekomi it has also been stated that there is another problem: many private firms in the city are still indebted to the enterprise. According to the people in this office, this amount could reach 10,000 dollars. (Me. Kl.).

CURSIVE REALITY TIRANE — "We ask that measures be taken to enforce the law by giving us the right that belongs to us and, if possible, as quickly as possible, because the right time for sowing is passing." This is part of the appeal that a group of villagers from Katundi i Ri in the Kashar commune of the Tirana district is addressing to the Ministry of Agriculture to solve their problem. But their trouble is a special one. While land distribution is a well-known problem in many backward districts, and title deeds are compared with the division of land, for these villagers the situation is reversed. So while many villagers have long had no title deeds, the people of Kashar, with title deeds, have land but nowhere to plough it. Thus, alongside the many problems and conflicts that accompany land reform in the countryside, there is now another strange and almost paradoxical case. But what is the cause of its emergence? From the villagers' own explanations it becomes clear that we are again dealing with a variant of the conflict between the property rights of former owners and those of the ownership reform arising from the current reform. In some villages, and on the arable land of the cooperative unit[?], the land has been distributed to the villagers — this is what the reform requires, but while respecting the old boundaries in the case of division[?] — as if[?] where the village was divided into hamlets. Thus in Katundi i Ri — according to the villagers — the land has been divided not on the basis of the documents that bind in the south. The land division commission — they complain — has restricted the law instead of respecting it; it has also left aside the land, there are two sets of property. They recognize them by title deed but not by land, and those who have the land are the ones without title deeds.

Valid only if issued after '92 An agreement between the two countries in the field of transport TIRANE — From now on, Albanian driving licences, issued after 1 January 1992, will also be recognized as valid in Italy. This is one of the most important points of an agreement reached between the Italian Embassy and the Albanian Ministry of Transport. It is also announced that another agreement has been reached on some legal arrangements concerning trade. The agreement, "On the reciprocal recognition of driving licences," provides that Albanian citizens will now have the right to travel on Italian roads without needing an international driving licence. At the same time, Italian citizens will also legally have their licences recognized in Albania, although this has in practice long been the case. Finally, citizens of one of the states that have a residence in all the countries with valid status in the respective territory will have the right to convert their licences; that is, an Albanian who has been in Italy for more than a year may obtain an Italian driving licence if he already has an Albanian one. The second agreement concerns the reciprocal regulation of "regular inspections" of vehicles, namely the technical checks for passenger and freight transport. The recognition agreement provides for several mutual rights such as access to ports and recognition of crew documents. The agreement does not cover seagoing vessels, fishing boats or other specific types. (p. r.) The Albanian driving licence will now also be recognized in Italy

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